{"id":526105,"date":"2026-03-08T05:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T05:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/526105\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T05:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T05:18:12","slug":"football-ferns-learn-semi-final-opponents-in-fifa-womens-world-cup-qualifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/526105\/","title":{"rendered":"Football Ferns learn semi-final opponents in FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand will play Fiji in Hamilton in the next step of their campaign to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil.<\/p>\n

This follows Sunday\u2019s final game in Group B of the Oceania qualifier series in which Papua New Guinea beat Fiji 1-0 with a late goal by Meagen Gunemba at Govind Park, Ba.<\/p>\n

Main photo: PNG scored a late winner against Fiji. Photo credit: OFC Media \/ Phototek<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result, PNG have topped their group and will play American Samoa in their series semi-final at Hamilton\u2019s FMG Stadium Waikato on Sunday April 12, 2026.<\/p>\n

New Zealand will play Fiji in the other semi-final at the same ground that day.<\/p>\n

To automatically qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil, New Zealand need to beat Fiji\u00a0and then win the final against PNG or American Samoa at North Harbour Stadium on Wednesday April 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

The winner of the series final at North Harbour Stadium will automatically qualify for the 32-team tournament to be held between June 24 and July 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

The runners-up at North Harbour will go into a 10-team intercontinental play-off series, in which the top three sides will earn berths in Brazil.<\/p>\n

How to buy tickets<\/p>\n

Tickets are on general sale for the third round fixtures to be staged in Hamilton and Auckland.<\/p>\n

You can buy tickets for the semi-finals at FMG Stadium Waikato, or for the series final at North Harbour Stadium, or a two-match pass to attend both events.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the semi-finals (both games) are $20 (adult) and $5 (children aged 3-14).
\nTickets for the two-match pass are $36 (adult) and $9 (children aged 3-14).
\nFor the series final in Albany, prices are $22.50 (adult) and $5 (children aged 3-14).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Final standings<\/p>\n

FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup qualifiers \u2014 Group A<\/p>\n

P
\nW
\nD
\nL
\nGF
\nGA
\nGD
\nPts<\/p>\n

New Zealand
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n19
\n0
\n+19
\n9<\/p>\n

American Samoa
\n3
\n2
\n0
\n1
\n2
\n3
\n-3
\n6<\/p>\n

Samoa
\n3
\n1
\n0
\n2
\n2
\n10
\n-8
\n3<\/p>\n

Solomon Islands
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n3
\n1
\n11
\n-10
\n0<\/p>\n

FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup qualifiers \u2014 Group B<\/p>\n

P
\nW
\nD
\nL
\nGF
\nGA
\nGD
\nPts<\/p>\n

Papua New Guinea
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n10
\n0
\n+10
\n9<\/p>\n

Fiji
\n3
\n2
\n0
\n1
\n6
\n1
\n+5
\n6<\/p>\n

New Caledonia
\n3
\n1
\n0
\n1
\n2
\n10
\n-8
\n3<\/p>\n

Vanuatu
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n3
\n1
\n9
\n-7
\n0<\/p>\n

Result<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game played on Sunday March 8, 2026<\/p>\n

Group B<\/p>\n

Papua New Guinea 1 (Meagen Gunemba 86\u2032)
Fiji 0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fixtures \u2014 Round 3<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Games to be played on Sunday April 12, 2026<\/p>\n

Semi-final 1<\/p>\n

New Zealand v Fiji
FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, 12pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

Semi-final 2<\/p>\n

Papua New Guinea v American Samoa
FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, 4pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Game to be played on Wednesday April 15, 2026<\/p>\n

Final<\/p>\n

Winners semi-final 1 v winners semi-final 2
North Harbour Stadium, Albany, Auckland, 7pm (NZT)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was first published on March 8, 2026<\/p>\n

More football stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand will play Fiji in Hamilton in the next step of their campaign to qualify for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[254398,64,63,261732,596,242357,85],"class_list":["post-526105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-2027-fifa-womens-world-cup","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fifa-womens-world-cup","tag-football","tag-football-ferns","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}